State ex rel. Fryerson v. Tate

705 N.E.2d 353, 84 Ohio St. 3d 481
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 17, 1999
DocketNo. 97-2517
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 705 N.E.2d 353 (State ex rel. Fryerson v. Tate) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Fryerson v. Tate, 705 N.E.2d 353, 84 Ohio St. 3d 481 (Ohio 1999).

Opinions

Alice Robie Resnick, J.

In his first proposition of law, appellant contends that he has stated a viable habeas corpus claim because his sentencing court lacked jurisdiction to convict him of offenses different from those for which he was bound over by the juvenile court. Appellant argues that when all aspects of this case are considered together, the end result must be that the court of appeals erred in denying the writ. The principal points of appellant’s arguments can be distilled into four separate components.

First, appellant asserts that a habeas corpus petition alleging that the sentencing court lacked jurisdiction over the petitioner due to an improper bindover states a potentially good cause of action in habeas corpus. Gaskins v. Shiplevy (1995), 74 Ohio St.3d 149, 151, 656 N.E.2d 1282, 1284 (“Gaskins I ”); State ex rel. Harris v. Anderson (1996), 76 Ohio St.3d 193, 195, 667 N.E.2d 1, 2. Appellant points out that in State v. Wilson (1995), 73 Ohio St.3d 40, 652 N.E.2d 196, paragraph one of the syllabus, this court held that absent a proper bindover pursuant to R.C. 2151.26, the juvenile court has exclusive subject-matter jurisdiction over any case concerning an alleged delinquent child. See, also, State v. Golphin (1998), 81 Ohio St.3d 543, 544-545, 692 N.E.2d 608, 610.

Second, appellant claims that his petition sufficiently alleges the lack of a proper bindover because he was never bound over for the offenses for which he was convicted and sentenced. Appellant further contends that the transfer of a case from juvenile court for criminal prosecution pursuant to the mandatory bindover provisions of R.C. 2151.26(B) and the discretionary bindover provisions of R.C. 2151.26(C) confers jurisdiction of “all further proceedings pertaining to the act charged * * * within the jurisdiction of the court to which it is transferred as described in division (H) of 2151.23 of the Revised Code.” R.C. 2151.26(F). Appellant also asserts that under R.C. 2151.23(H)(1), the transferee court has jurisdiction to hold further proceedings on the “offense that was the basis of the transfer of the case for criminal prosecution.”

Appellant contends that based on the amended version of R.C. 2151.26, in effect at the time that he committed the offenses charged, his sentencing court lacked jurisdiction to try him on offenses against Jones because these offenses were not the basis of the bindover by the juvenile court. R.C. 2151.26 and 2151.23(H). See, generally, Am.Sub.H.B. No. 1, 146 Ohio Laws, Part I, effective January 1, 1996.

Third, appellant alleges that the possibility of an adequate alternative remedy is irrelevant to his habeas corpus petition, which allegedly raises a jurisdictional claim of an improper bindover. See Harris, 76 Ohio St.3d at 195, 667 N.E.2d at [484]*4842-3; Gaskins I, 74 Ohio St.3d at 151, 656 N.E.2d at 1284. See, also, Pegan v. Crawmer (1996), 76 Ohio St.3d 97, 99-100, 666 N.E.2d 1091, 1094, citing In re Lockhart (1952), 157 Ohio St. 192, 195, 47 O.O. 129, 131, 105 N.E.2d 35, 37, and paragraph three of the syllabus (“where a judgment is void due to lack of jurisdiction, habeas corpus is an appropriate remedy despite the availability of alternative remedies such as appeal”); Wilson, 73 Ohio St.3d at 44-46, 652 N.E.2d at 199-200 (When a court lacks jurisdiction to convict a juvenile due to an improper bindover, the judgment of conviction it enters is void ab initio, and this jurisdictional defect cannot be waived.).

Fourth, appellant urges that this court’s holding in Gaskins v. Shiplevy (1996), 76 Ohio St.3d 380, 667 N.E.2d 1194 (“Gaskins II”) is inapplicable to this case. In Gaskins I, this court reversed the summary dismissal of a habeas corpus petition that alleged an improper bindover and ordered the court of appeals to allow the writ, require the warden to make a return, and determine whether bindover was improper. Gaskins I, 74 Ohio St.3d at 151, 656 N.E.2d at 1284. The warden filed a return that included the juvenile court’s bindover entry, and the court of appeals denied the writ. Gaskins II, 76 Ohio St.3d at 380-381, 667 N.E.2d at 1195-1196. On appeal, this court affirmed the denial of the writ because the bindover entry established “full compliance with the bindover procedure,” and the petitioner had adequate legal remedies to address his contentions assailing the accuracy of the bindover entry and seeking correction of the entry. Gaskins II, 76 Ohio St.3d at 382-383, 667 N.E.2d at 1196-1197. Appellant argues that this court in Gaskins II did not overrule any previous decisions, and that the discussion in Gaskins II concerning the adequacy of an alternative remedy is limited to cases where, following allowance of the writ and ordering a return, a bindover entry is submitted that is not contradicted by the record and establishes compliance with the bindover requirements, and the petitioner challenges the accuracy of the entry.

As a preliminary matter, we acknowledge that this court did hold in Wilson that, absent a proper bindover, the juvenile court has exclusive subject-matter jurisdiction over an alleged delinquent child. Furthermore, we acknowledge that a majority of this court did hold in Gaskins I and Harris that a habeas corpus petition alleging that the sentencing court lacked jurisdiction over the petitioner due to an improper bindover states a potentially good cause of action in habeas corpus.

Upon initial consideration of the points raised in appellant’s four major arguments, there does appear to be some individual merit in some aspects of appellant’s position. However, a thorough examination of the record and a consideration of the interplay of the component arguments applied to the [485]*485circumstances of this case compel an opposite result from that sought by appellant.

The general rule is that habeas corpus relief is not available where there is an adequate remedy at law. See Gaskins II, 76 Ohio St.3d at 383, 667 N.E.2d at 1197; Luchene v. Wagner (1984), 12 Ohio St.3d 37, 39, 12 OBR 32, 33-34, 465 N.E.2d 395, 396; State ex rel. Jackson v. McFaul (1995), 73 Ohio St.3d 185, 186, 652 N.E.2d 746, 748. It is true that in the past this court has carved out a limited exception to this general rule, to apply when the habeas petitioner is challenging the jurisdiction of the court that sentenced him. Some of these cases have involved an alleged improper bindover. See, e.g., Gaskins I, 74 Ohio St.3d at 151, 656 N.E.2d at 1284; Harris, 76 Ohio St.3d at 195, 667 N.E.2d at 2-3. Other cases have involved allegations of various types of jurisdictional defects, in different contexts. See, e.g., In re Lockhart, 157 Ohio St. at 195, 47 O.O. at 131, 105 N.E.2d at 37, and at paragraph three of the syllabus.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
705 N.E.2d 353, 84 Ohio St. 3d 481, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-fryerson-v-tate-ohio-1999.